Brief ⁽¹⁾

HCR 5008 would urge the Congress of the United States to provide funding to the United States Army Corps of Engineers to study reallocating storage space from the flood control pool to the conservation pool in John Redmond Lake in Coffey County, Kansas.

Background

The resolution was introduced at the request of the Kansas Water Office. At the hearing on the resolution, the only conferee was a spokesperson from the Kansas Water Office. The conferee explained that the State of Kansas has signed contracts for water supply storage space in John Redmond Lake with the Corps of Engineers. The House Committee was told that the water supply storage space accounts for 76 percent of the conservation pool in John Redmond Lake. The Committee learned that a 1997 analysis indicated that the long-term yield of the reservoir would not support all of the current uses and that 18 cities and industries rely on the water contained in the storage space. The design of the lake allocates a portion of the storage space in both the conservation and flood pools for sediment deposition. The Committee learned that the current rate of siltation is 725 acre-feet of loss per year and that almost all of it is being deposited in the conservation pool. The Kansas Water Office has requested the Corps study the possibility of permanently raising the normal pool level by two feet to offset the increased rate of sediment entering the conservation pool. Funding for the completion of the study is necessary in order for the State of Kansas to provide water to its customers as required by the contracts.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/fulltext.cgi